I am constantly dreaming up new ways to celebrate and give homage to the dates and special moments of life. In a world where it’s so easy to drift away from what really matters; I feel like traditions tether us to what is important. They keep us anchored. Tradition creates history and allows us to join in and be part of continuing that history as it unfolds. It helps us through the sometimes mundane everyday moments that fly by as we live out our life.

We’ve started a new tradition at Go. We call it “The Table.” On the last Friday of the month, our team gathers together and cooks a meal. Music and laughter enshrouds the base as we crowd into our tiny kitchen and share cutting boards and swap recipes and stories. We light candles and arrange flowers and eat chips and dip. (Because it’s not a party if there’s not chips and dip.) Then, we squeeze around our table with the lights dimmed low and share stories; stories about the past month, people we’ve met and things we won’t forget. Some of us share entries from our journals, others who are artistically inclined show art they made or photos they've taken. We set this time aside to remember; and in doing so, we join together and celebrate Christ. It’s a simple meal that we create together; and yet in that simple meal we feel God there in the midst of us. Somehow on that night the hardships of living in another country slowly melt away, the homesickness we sometimes feel dwindles and we become centered on why we are here.

It’s important in our fast paced world to stop and remember. Our lives can become so future oriented that we never take time to look back. Usually parties and celebrations center around moving forward: a birthday, the new year, a wedding. Seldom do we pause from the momentum of "forward" to give homage to where we have been. When we look back we see life's victories. We see where God has taken us, many times through places and moments we didn't know if we had the courage to move past. We find strength to go forward as we savor the sweetness of these victories.